


A Grimm Vessel and A Hollow Troupe Master

by Zerolite



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: And Grimm is in denial, Gen, Inspired by Fanart, Memory Loss, Not Canon Compliant, Ocs mentioned but not seen/named, Pale King is a jerk as always, Repressed Memories, Roleswap, Something that came to mind due to a picture, These poor bugs, What-If, poor Hollow gets knocked on the head
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-10-16 22:53:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20610692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerolite/pseuds/Zerolite
Summary: A peek into a world where things went in a vastly different direction for one former vessel and one former troupe master due to one desperate king, willing to do anything to seal the light away.





	1. Cleave

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this piece of fanart of [Hollow and Grimm having swapped places](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/614616220687400960/621234331792179229/11fff17a-bb17-4afd-a1d9-3046b979f6fa.jpg) , so I did my own take on that sort of world ^^

Eyes pitch black like void observed the girl across from him, her own mismatched color eyes watching him warily as he held his staff, void in it’s tip bubbling, barely contained.

Grimm, was that his name? He never was sure, but it didn’t matter, he was to be hollow, to seal away a great light, the Radiance. King said he was created to do that, but something within him said that was a lie.

The scenes playing in his dreams every single night certainly added to that feeling. 

A black and scarlet colored version of himself, talking with the king, dancing and fighting with an unknown bug that looked strange, like those vessel ones he sometimes saw skittering around and hiding out of sight, then being knocked out and thrown into a dark as pitch lake, something scarlet shrieking and escaping his body befor_e it hit the water-_

_No time to recall illusions the Radiance certainly sent to trick him,_ Grimm refocused as his opponent shifted, readying to dash at him with her thin nails at the ready in her hands.

Grimm merely shifted, opening his cloak towards her with a hand as he sent balls of harmful void at her, and skittered back when she dove through and around them, aiming strikes at him with her nails.

He teleported out of harms way, behind her as he then swiped at her before surging up, sending more balls of Void at her as he disappeared again in a white flash before reappearing at the opposite end of the arena as she turned and gave him a playful and challenging look.

No matter what he was feeling in his chest at the look she was sending him, he pushed it down. He was supposed to have no thoughts or a mind for the Radiance to control, he shouldn’t be feeling a thing.

No, if he were to do that, he’d fail the king, and he refused to do that, no matter how much pain nested in his chest at doing so.

_Do not think..._

_Do not speak..._

_Do not feel..._

_Do not hope..._

_Do not..._

* * *

Hollow’s head rung as one of the Grimmkin novices accidentally flung their staff and struck him on the head. His scarlet eyes narrowed at the offending novice who shrunk in the air upon seeing his slitted glare upon them as the staff clattered to the ground.

“...I would not recommend letting go of one’s staff when sending fireballs out with it.” His voice was quiet, but dripping with annoyance and hostility. In truth, if he wasn’t in the middle of something he probably wouldn’t be so annoyed at the novice, this happened often with Brumm and Angelia being on the receiving end of the novices’ slippery grips, but considering he was preparing a bug to go be the anchor in Hollownest, the last thing he needed was this.

The novice nodded frantically, retrieving their discarded staff before fleeing the room, leaving Grimm with the bug who, like any bug who was destined to be an anchor by the Nightmare Heart, was silent. No voice or such, they were more hollow than anything with a single purpose, die to become the anchor.

Hollow turned and went back to what he was doing as his mind wandered. Hollownest, never thought he’d be going back there after what happened. Really, he thought the Nightmare Heart would actually punish him for even considering sending an anchor there after what the Pale King-_ His former father he thought venomously _\- did to the previous troupe master.

Hollow recalled not being very old at the time, at most he was just leaving his teen years when the Pale King had summoned the troupe, getting desperate enough to dabble in the dark arts to aid in his attempts to seal away the Radiance.

Hollow remembered he liked how flamboyant and cheerful Grimm was, even dancing and fighting with the Vessel when he asked, though he wasn’t sure how Grimm interpreted the vessel’s silent questions when he had no voice by design.

And how absolutely devastated he was when he saw his father deliberately knock the troupe master out before, with Hollow following, took him to the abyss where he then threw the troupe master into the void with only a rope attached to him to pull him up after a certain period of time.

Hollow remembered the next events vividly, a scream of the scarlet heart and a scarlet flame leaving Grimm’s body before he hit the void water, searching desperately for a new vessel to hold the flame before it died-

Which Hollow was the perfect candidate for. 

It rushed at him and before he could blink, found it’s new home within him and thus freeing him from the constraints his previous vessel status had had, gaining many traits his father denied him. A voice being one and no need to restrain his emotions being another.

At the pure anger from both him and the scarlet frame within him now, he had then impaled the king with a summoned sword of scarlet flame before he was whisked back to the troupe in a teleport.

He recalled that he had to hurriedly with his new voice explain what happened to Brumm, as Angelia hadn’t yet joined the troupe at that point, and the grimmkin what happened, resulting in them destroying the anchor the Pale King had used to summon them, it’s destruction sending them back to the nightmare realm.

Hence the need for a new anchor.

Hollow let his hand be engulfed in scarlet flame and touched the anchor grimmkin, sending it on it’s way as he turned to go speak with Brumm and Angelia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooboy I have way too much worked up for this au, I only meant to write this as a break from my main HK story's custom ending, and it just kept coming with more about the world like Angelia, didn't mean to make her but it happened XD
> 
> Dunno if I'll continue this, don't know if anyone would be interested. ^^;;; I'd probably write random little scenes from before Grimm's sealed or after dealing with Hollow being summoned to Hollownest. Dunno if this is set in the same universe as my Hornet-Ghost roleswap au I'm working on, I don't think so but I could be wrong.


	2. Songstress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Grimm's capture, Hollow has to take care of those Grimm left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So, I wasn't exactly planning on continuing this, but I have ideas and you guys seem to want to hear them, so here I am! XD
> 
> I think this might update fairly, randomly? It's going to be random events and not necessarily in order at times, but If I do chapters that are directly connected or are more than one part long(as will be the case in a future chapter I'm planning out >w>) I will state it in the title with "part two of _" and/or in a note like this!
> 
> I have a couple events planned out, both for Hollow and Grimm and ESPECIALLY Hornet surprisingly, as well as Ghost. Plus this Hornet is already in a AU situation of sorts prior to what I've planned for her, but that's mostly cuz I'm curious to see how to tackle it and such. But yep, stuff happens with Ghost and Hornet that I won't talk on cuz that's the chapter I'm working on! X3
> 
> Fair warning, I am very uncertain if I wrote Divine correctly, out of all the troupe members she is the hardest for me to grasp in terms of writing, but I tried my best. 
> 
> And before anyone asks, yep there are ocs here, but there's only three as I only have three HK ocs for current time in the universe and I don't plan to add more to this, one's exclusive to this au as is XD They're there to sort of make the world bigger, plus i get to play around with them outside of their main stories in the normal universe which is gonna be interesting for the vessel one and sort of weird not-but-kinda-vessel one. not gonna say anymore cuz I want them to be a surprise >W<
> 
> But yeah, I hope you enjoy this!

Hollow sighed as he walked through the maze-like paths through the main tent of the Troupe, heading for a room that only he and a select few others in the Troupe were aware of due to it’s importance.

He supposed he should have been ready for this for a while, he had been given his space and time to accept his new situation after becoming master so suddenly a long time ago, but it was still hard to wrap his mind around everything, especially with things involving the ritual which Brumm had readily admitted didn’t know how it changed with the change in leadership.

Speaking of, it already caused it’s fair share of trouble that Grimm was now gone and didn’t even remember the troupe now, especially with one former member, Divine. She had taken his sudden and unwarranted, kidnapping was the best word for it, the worst.

Hollow had heard the shouting matches she had with Brumm over it, Hollow knew thanks to the Nightmare Heart that Grimm had personally recruited her for the troupe because he liked her personality and thought she would be a fine addition to the troupe after meeting her in a faraway kingdom the troupe had been summoned to a long time ago, and she had been close with Grimm as a result. They weren’t romantically involved Brumm had explained to a confused Hollow, but were close friends, and as such she was greatly angered that Brumm and Hollow had destroyed the anchor without even attempting to rescue Grimm.

Brumm had, as Hollow had heard, tried to explain that it was both the fear that the Pale King would attempt to use the troupe for something else regarding what he did to Grimm, as well as the sheer panic that had gripped Hollow  _ and  _ the Nightmare Heart that made them act and destroy the anchor. 

The heart had never been so close to being killed or consumed by the void, it’s ritual was, after all, to keep it alive, and as such it’s panic had been as high as the skies which bled into Hollow’s already volatile and wild at the time emotions, emotions not yet tamed or even remotely understood, so Hollow had acted in his interest and the heart’s own.

He hadn’t even seen Divine before either, the King had warned him away from her tent with mumblings of “That creature isn’t normal...Stay away lest it eat you whole.”, so he didn’t know she existed until she came out her tent, confused and startled by the sudden yank to the nightmare realm after the fact.

And after that, she avoided him at all costs and when she literally almost snapped his head off once, he left her be, hoping she’d at least calm down so he could explain his side of what happened.

That, didn’t exactly happen though. One day he woke to find she had left, the Nightmare Heart giving him the basic idea of what happened through his connection with it. She had contacted the Heart through the connection she had thanks to being part of the troupe and had respectfully asked to leave, the heart even relaying some of what she had said.

_ “Respectfully scarlet heart, I simply cannot bear to smell the stench of the one who took master on the new one, he doesn’t have any other scent and the one he has revolts me. The Master would understand wouldn’t he? If he ever returned that is.” _

Hollow didn’t know how he really felt when that happened, he felt sadness from the Heart at losing her even if it allowed her to leave, but he honestly didn’t know her too well when she left. It had been only a month after he became troupe master that she left and he was still practically catatonic processing everything.

He shook his head, refocusing on where he was going. No time to focus on Divine’s leaving, not when he already had something bigger to worry about.

The ritual, and the grimmchildren Grimm had left behind. Brumm, rather flusteredly, had told him that due to the Nightmare Heart and ritual, Grimm often went through what he referred to as “molting season”, which meant he would periodically lay eggs that would later hatch into Grimmchilds for the ritual in a special, guarded room only Grimm and Brumm had known about. He needed no mate for this and wasn’t ever romantically involved with anyone in the troupe, though that didn’t mean Grimm told anyone else but Brumm about it, he knew others would gossip and that was the last thing Grimm wanted.

And since he was gone, it was up to Hollow to care for them, as he wasn’t sure if the ritual had changed to need them or not.

Brumm had taken care of them while Hollow got situated, but he told the young master he would need to take care of them as well once he was ready.

Well, no time like the present, right?

Hollow’s eyes spot the hidden door with little issue and quietly enters, careful to not make a sound as he closed the door behind him, turning around to scan the room.

There were many plush pillow beds around the large room and one large bed Hollow amusedly knew was called a king size bed, on each there were a varying amount of Grimmchildren curled up, sleeping. He counted around twenty individual grimmchilds, and in a cradle to the side with many pillows in it, six red and black eggs nestled there.

Hollow carefully made his way into the room, doing his best to not make a sound as he made his way over to the bed.

He hesitantly reached out, conscious that his hand was bigger than the smallest one he could see, and carefully picked up one, cradling it to his chest and carefully sitting on the edge of the bed as he hoped he was doing this right. He never held a baby before and it was so tiny in his hands-

The small thing yawned and blinked, snuggling into his chest as it looked up and mewled at him, not bothered at all. His heart melted and he felt himself smile under his mask, petting it with a finger as it purred with contentment.

“...Told you they wouldn’t mind you..” The small, soft voice almost made him jump as he tilted his head to see the newest member of the troupe, Angelia peering into the room. “...Sorry, couldn’t help but follow.”

He shook his head, tilting his head for her to come in as he once again tried to figure out exactly what she was. 

He had found her wandering the Nightmare realm shortly before Divine left, lost and without a clue as to how she got there, aside from her muttering about some weird blood ritual going wrong and sending her there, and she claimed to be a human, though considering the wings like a butterfly’s upon her back and the hair she had he heavily doubted it. But aside from the wings, she did look like what she claimed to be.

He had offered her a place to stay while figuring out what to do with her, manners the Pale King drilled into his mind pulling him out of his catatonic state long enough to act and do so, and she had accepted, oddly fitting into the troupe very well for several months and getting to know the troupe members before he decided to invite her to join.

She had been pleasantly surprised to be invited, but accepted regardless as she liked them and really didn’t care if she couldn’t go home, muttering that she “wasn’t wanted anyway”. Her grimmkin mask wasn’t something that covered her whole face unlike most troupe members, it covered her eyebrows and cheeks and had holes for her eyes, a style of mask she said was familiar with.

He often chatted with her when he had time and had before mentioned the topic of the grimmchildren he’d have to take care of, worrying if they’d be scared of him because he wasn’t Grimm. She had retorted that she didn’t think they’d mind him, they were just babies after all.

“You were right it seems.” He agreed with her as she made her way over and sat down next to him, her formerly blue eyes now a purple color after becoming a troupe member fixated on him.

“Little ones are often not picky with caretakers if they sense they are good.” She murmured quietly, mindful of the sleeping grimmchildren as she picked up one herself, holding it close to her and giggling softly as it nestled against her chest, over her heart, without a second thought.

“Seems they like you as well.” Hollow tilted his head at the sudden sheepish look that overcame her features.

“...It’s not the first time they’ve met me.” She admitted, glancing away. “I followed Brumm here on a few occasions, before and after I joined. He was a bit overwhelmed by them all but did his best, so when he left I often came in and, sang to them. Calmed them and helped them rest, I usually do so when I myself cannot rest and end up sleeping here sometimes..”

If Hollow could he probably would’ve raised an eyebrow at her. “That explains why sometimes you’re not in your room some mornings.”

She smiled sheepishly at him. “I can stop these visits if you like, they are your charges after all by way of the ritual.”

He shook his head and reached over, placing his hand on her head and ruffling it like he would sometimes do with Hornet between her short horns, though now he mussed up Angelia’s hair a tad as she had no horns. “No, I’m going to need all the help I can get with these little ones until I get the hang of it, I’ve not a clue as to what I’m doing largely as it is.”

She smiled warmly at him as she tilted her head at him, his hand still on her head. “You’ve been doing wonderfully for someone in your situation, though are you certain you should be telling the newest member this?”

“We’re both new to this troupe, the way I see it you would understand that the most.” He pulled his arm back and shrugged carefully to not disturb the child in his arms.

One corner of her mouth tilted up more than the other at that as her eyebrows raised, though not able to peek out from behind her mask. “Fair enough. I don’t mind, these darlings are worth it.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if you prefer them over me.” He quietly jokes, almost laughing at the mock offended look that crossed her face.

“Excuse me my good sir, you’ve gotten the wrong impression of me.” She giggled back, purple eyes dancing in the light. “I do rather like you very much, I just also happen to like these little ones as well.”

“That’s good to hear.” He grinned under his mask at her as she grinned back.

There was a chirp from elsewhere on the bed, and the duo looked over to see some of the Grimmchildren waking up, stretching their tiny limbs and yawning. One of them looked over at the two and let out a little “Myah.”, flying over and perching itself in between Hollow’s horns atop his head before nestling down again.

Angelia put the back of her free hand to her mouth, muffled giggling being heard from behind her hand as she restrained giggling at his expense. Several more grimmchildren flew over, a fair few settling on Hollow’s lap as the one atop his head let out a triumphant murr, clearly happy that no one was trying to take it’s spot yet, but a majority of them flocked to Angelia, settling around her and mewing in a needy way as she rolled her eyes.

“They want me to sing.” She giggled. “I know that mew anywhere.”

“Go ahead, I’m getting swarmed so I don’t mind.” He laughed as more Grimmchildren flocked to him from various spots in the room, a few settling on his shoulders as the one on his head hissed, not letting anyone take it’s spot, but the majority of them settled up against his legs and a few wormed their way into his arms alongside the one he was already holding.

She giggled nervously. “Okay, um, I normally sing a song I heard from a, play of sorts, that’s the best way to describe it.”

He made a go-ahead motion with his head, and she breathed in, before beginning to softly sing.

“Oh, when a difficult day goes by, keeping it together is hard, but that’s why, you’ve got to try, you’ve got to try.” She closed her eyes as she sang, rocking side to side. “And when, there's a thundering storm outside, underneath the covers you huddle and hide~ Open your eyes~ Open your eyes~”

“It's the true, it's the true~ It's the true kinda love~” A smile pulled at her features as she sang now, several grimmchilds were bobbing their heads to her song. “ It's the true, it's the true~ It's the true kinda love~”

Her voice, used in this manner it was almost hypnotic and very much calming to listen to, and Hollow looked at her with new found wonder as he felt the Nightmare Heart settle in approval of his asking her to join the troupe now. It hadn’t been so sure she was a good addition at first, seeing as she wasn’t exactly a bug, but over time it seemed to warm up to her, and with the feeling he was getting from it now, it now definitely liked having her apart of the troupe.

She continued singing for a little while, grimmchildren slowly falling asleep one by one as their head dropped, even the one atop his head, and by the time she finished her song, all the little ones had fallen asleep and even Hollow was feeling a bit sleepy.

The feeling seemed to be mutual, as Angelia yawned quietly, covering her mouth as she yawned before slowly leaning onto her side and resting on the bed sideways, careful enough to nestle between the sleeping grimmchildren as she fell asleep.

Hollow thought about carrying her back to her room, but upon the feeling of the little ones in his arms nestling down even more, he thought against it. Carefully moving the grimmchildren off his legs and shoulders and getting up without moving his head and jostling the one between his horns, he moved to the other side of the bed, clear after the grimmchildren had moved close to Angelia to hear her sing.

He sat down and pulled his legs onto the bed, laying down as he carefully angled his head so the child up there remained as it was. He’d probably get a crick in his neck, but he couldn’t bring himself to move the little one when it was fast asleep.

He closed his eyes, restful sleep claiming him as he rapidly drifted off, more at peace than he usually was when he was trying to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep I used a SU song, I have no regrets XD It fit though, especially with Hollow's situation. 
> 
> And in case anyone is curious, I honestly didn't know what Angelia was at first, she was just a name I put in cuz I wasn't sure if I was gonna include Divine, and now as you can see she's a human, of sorts. She's in a weird situation in terms of race(muchlikemyotheroc), as she's got the wings of a butterfly and technically her hair could be considered a butterfly trait, but she's got the body and face of a human. At most I'm considering her a weird hybrid of human and butterfly. As for how she got to the nightmare realm... might explore that at a later date, however. I can say that she was in the wrong place, wrong time and got involved in a murder cult's ritual, probably died but her soul was sent to the nightmare realm with a new body as you can see. I can make a quick design for her if anyone wants to see what she looks like, cuz I wasn't really descriptive I now realize.
> 
> And currently cuz i know it's gonna crop up eventually, I don't have any immediate plans to ship anyone in this au, there probably is going to be a case later on down the line as I'm planning something with another character, but I currently don't plan to ship Hollow and Angelia as I know they probably seemed a bit close here. Chances are I will change my mind as I like shipping characters way too much, but that is going to be far down the line with this XD
> 
> Also! Hollow can remove his mask now thanks to the Nightmare Heart, his head just looks like his shade head, only with red eyes like Grimm's but with the pupils Hollow has, that's why there's lines of him grinning behind his mask, cuz he has a face now XD
> 
> Anyway, I'm done rambling, I probably shouldn't do that too much, now to write out the next scene with some characters back in Hollownest! (\^W^/)


	3. Chasing a Ghost (Part one of three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hornet finds someone from her past and remembers that which she was made to forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to post this! ADHD is a pain and whatever slump I'm in has not helped in the slightest, like I've probably written the least amount I've ever written in the past two months and it's annoying. I've had this first part finished for a while, just forgot to post it.
> 
> Fair warning, I have, messed with Hornet's origins here a tad. It's mostly to see how well I can do it and if I can do it in a believable way. Also if you don't hate PK by now, HOOBOY you probably will after this.
> 
> [This is the design I use for PK by the way!](https://leeffi.tumblr.com/post/173555778106/doodle-dump-of-the-pale-king-though-he) This is very much relevant trust me.

Hornet hummed as she explored her mother’s domain, having snuck past the weavers watching her and now was freely exploring deepnest.

Really, she didn’t see the problem and why her mother was so paranoid! Sure a few stray infected dirtcarvers got the jump on her, but her training needle made short work of them and her thread sliced through their necks for good measure, so she really didn’t see the problem her mother had with her exploring.

She skipped through the tunnels leisurely, needle in one of her four hands(just like her mom and dad’s!) just in case as she felt warmth up ahead, and she soon found herself in the hot springs of Deepnest. Though she felt the urge to jump into the water and play in it, something was pulling her down the path to the recently finished tramway.

She hopped over the water with a leap, landing on the other side of it as she shook slightly, still wasn’t used to jumping that far yet, but shook it off as she continued.

She didn’t know what was pulling her down this winding pathway, it was a tug within some, strange dark part of her being, as if she was void, but she dismissed that. No, her mother was Herrah and she hadn’t been born like Hollow was, the young teen was certain of that, though a niggling doubt clung to the back of her mind, her mother hadn’t stated she gave birth to her and everyone acted like her mother had romantic relations with the Pale King, her father, to create her, but….how did that explain some abilities she had that Hollow had secretly helped her learn how to use? And the strange gap in her memories where she was certain something was supposed to be there…?

Hornet snapped out of her thoughts as she reached the tramway, unsurprisingly no one was there and the tram wasn’t there. Not many wished to visit deepnest after all, but, what was pulling her here then?

A sound resounded and the tram was suddenly pulling into view, making the princess of deepnest tilt her head, though she rushed forward when a figure fell out of the tram once it opened.

“Are you okay?!” She yelped, just barely catching the figure before they hit the ground. The figure was bizarrely similar to Hollow if he were very young again, but their horns were thinner, with two small tapered points at the ends-

Hornet suddenly felt a searing pain in her mind, making her hiss as she placed a hand on her head, shifting the vessel in her other arms so she could look at it’s face and another stab of pain in her mind resounded as she realized she recognized this vessel. Vividly.

She fought through the pain in her mind to recall, soon realizing whatever was causing her pain was some sort of spell weaved upon her mind, weaver and pale magic. Were she a normal bug, she probably wouldn’t even be aware of what it was.

But she wasn’t a normal bug, and she had been taught how to weave magic with her thread, as well as undo spells if she wove them wrong.

She focused, feeling her thread start spinning around her and the vessel in her arms, pulling and testing the threading of the spell upon her mind. It was clearly a rushed spell, and while it seemed it had been strengthened, if she just pulled the right threads…

With a couple of tugs on weak and rushed thread, the spell unraveled as she clutched the vessel close to her, memories assaulting her, memories of a dark place..

* * *

_ They broke out of their egg with a gasp, coughing out black liquid as the newly hatched being trembled, pulling a tattered red cloak close to cover their cold body. Glossy see-through wings fluttered on their back, two pairs of arms clutching the cloak to their body, single point horns curving to loosely point inward as they looked around. _

_ There were some footsteps and the little one looked up to see one like themselves, this one’s cloak a deep blue and horns thinner, with two tiny points and didn’t take up the majority of their head, unlike the new one. _

_ They knelt down and embraced their younger sibling, letting the younger latch onto them as their body began stabilizing it’s temperature with aid from the warmth of their sibling. _

_ As their body stopped shaking, their mind, much more developed despite being a new born, began to properly think. They, had to get to the top of this place, father- _

_ They wanted to make him proud, that was any vessel’s first mistake, wanting something. _

_ They trilled their thanks to their sibling, pressing their mask fondly against the other as the sibling laughed in void, trilling right back as they helped the younger to their feet. _

_ The older patted the younger one down their arms, expressing surprise at the extra pair as well as the gossamer wings fluttering from the younger’s back, before seeming to smile and rub the younger on the head, reaching up to pet the space between the horns. _

_ They then took the red cloak the younger was clutching and wrapped it around their shoulders, tying a small knot so it would remain in place. They then motioned for the younger to follow, and the two siblings ran out of the tiny cavern the younger’s egg was in, ending up in the main, giant to the vessels cavern where a pale light shown down from the entrance at the top. _

_ They had to get up there, father was waiting. _

_ The two began to climb the platforms, rising higher and higher and closer to their father. _

_ Until they reached a platform, and the one above was too high for either of them to reach at their current size. _

_ The siblings looked at each other in distress, (another flaw,) they had to get up there! The older sibling thought for a moment before putting their hands together and lowering them so the younger could be boosted up. _

_ The younger shrilled out a cry, not wanting to leave their sibling behind, but the other shook their head. “ _ ** _I'll catch up_ ** _ .” they promised their distraught sibling. _

_ Reluctantly, the red-clad vessel put their foot on their sibling’s hands, letting them fling them up high enough to latch onto the edge of the platform. The vessel was able to climb up onto the platform with minor difficulty, turning and looking down at their sibling below. _

_ Their sibling motioned them onward, and with reluctance, the younger did so. With their wings, they easily reached the top of the abyss, where they fell to their hands and knees, form heaving with exhaustion at the strain of climbing so high. _

_ The light was on them, a pale light that made them look up, it was the Pale King, their father! _

_ They couldn’t help themselves, they got to their feet and quickly hugged him with both sets of arms, feeling him still under their touch as he placed one set of his hands on their shoulders. _

_ “Another failure…” He muttered, the words striking fear into the newly born vessel as his hands gripped their shoulders. “How many more must I…” _

_ He paused and pushed them away from him enough to get a look at the red-clad vessel, eyes sharply noting the extra arms as well as the glossy wings attached to their back after turning them around. _

_ “Hm…” Thankfully, he didn’t push them back down the long fall to the bottom of the cavern, instead turned them back around to face him as he offered a hand. “Come young one. You are not the hollow knight I seek, but mayhaps something else that one queen of beasts desires.” _

_ They tilted their head, thoughts flickering to their sibling below, before hesitantly taking his hand, letting him guide them out of the abyss with ease. _

* * *

_ “Hm. You wish to offer me this vessel as a child to call my own in return for my end of the bargain?” The towering figure of the queen of deepnest made the red-clad vessel cling to the White Lady-their mother’s skirt as their father talked with the queen. Though she seemed nice enough, she still scared the small vessel. _

_ “I know it’s raised some discomfort in both our kingdoms at the talks of a child between the two of us, and while I know Root has no qualms over it, I’m sure we’d both prefer as little hassle over this as possible.” The king was ever formal as always as he then called. “Vessel, come forward.” _

_ The vessel shook before darting to cling onto the King’s side, to his credit he didn’t shove them off of him, instead grasped their cloak with a hand. _

_ “All vessels are of royal blood as you are aware, and this one happens to resemble the both of us rather well.” He pulled the cloak up, revealing the two sets of arms the vessel had as well as the gossamer wings tucked against their back. “And since no one is aware of our meetings like this, it will be easy to fool your subjects as well as mine.” _

_ “Hmm, but won’t it remember it’s true parentage? If it’s not the hollow knight you are seeking, it most definitely has a mind of it’s own.” Herrah peered closer, making the vessel shake and hide their face in his cloak. “It appears to be frightened of me as well.” _

_ “Did you bring your weavers like I asked?” The King responded instead of answering, making Herrah huff as she motioned for the three weavers to come out of the shadows. _

_ “Yes, why did you ask me to bring them?” Herrah crossed her arms, she had no time for any games he wished to play. _

_ “Quite simply, your weavers and I will cast a spell on the vessel’s mind and it will believe it was born to you, as would a true heir to deepnest.” The words coming from him with ease had the vessel jump back in shock and fear, backing into their mother’s skirt as she placed a calming root over them. _

_ “And are you certain this spell of yours won’t break?” This time one of the weavers asked this, skepticism clear in their tone. _

_ “If your spell weaving is strengthened by my magic, it won’t.” The wyrm answered, just in time for the vessel to make use of it’s own voice. _

_ “ _ ** _Mother, father, I-I’m sorry for whatever I did to upset you!_ ** _ ” The vessel was shaking, terribly so as tears as dark as pitch slipped from their eyes. “ _ ** _But please, do-don’t kill me!_ ** _ ” _

_ “We won’t kill you, you will live, just without memories of this encounter, or anything prior.” The King scoffed as the Vessel noted Herrah giving them a sympathetic look, she didn’t look like she wanted this anymore than the vessel. But... “Weavers, if you wouldn’t mind.” _

_ The three weavers came forward, and the vessel was pulled away from their mother despite their screaming or pleading, even their mother was trying to talk the king out of this especially considering how frightened they were, and soon threads of magic and the pale king’s magic permeated the air, binding the vessel in place. _

_ Herrah also knew if she stopped him, it was likely he’d kill the vessel on the spot as it wasn’t hollow, she already knew from Monomon what was happening with the discarded vessels… _

_ “You will no longer be a vessel, instead you will be child of Herrah, queen of deepnest.” The king’s voice rang out as Herrah then spoke, tone soft as she sealed the spell. _

_ “You will be Hornet, daughter of the Pale King and I, princess of deepnest. _”

* * *

Hornet’s head and hearing rung as she did her best to make sense of the memories she just unlocked and felt a searing anger building within her. The king had no right to just, mess with her mind like that! She had just hatched and already her original existence was stripped away just so he could use her in his plans!

Those weavers she always had watching her, they were the three who cast the spell on her, likely strengthening it over time, but thanks to-

Sibling!

Her focus trained itself back to the vessel in her arms, her sibling, the one who helped her, they seemed to be unconscious, they somehow escaped the abyss and must have followed the pull to her like she had been to them.

She saw the cuts and wounds littering their carapace and stood with them clutched in her arms, rushing back to the hot spring. It always healed her, it must be able to heal them too.

“You really just appear like a ghost all the time don’t you?” She chuckled, remembering how they showed up like one when she hatched. “Maybe that’ll be your name if you so want it to be so.”

Ghost… A fine name for an equally surprising sibling. She briefly wondered if they’d choose a gender for themselves, she had no say in being labeled daughter and quite frankly it was better than being called an it, but they had the option to choose for themselves now, if she was able to convince Herrah to let them become part of her deepnest family.

She was soon knee-deep in the water of the hot springs, the soul-infused water the perfect temperature as she lowered herself into the water with her sibling still in her arms.

Her red cloak floated up around her and her sibling as she had them carefully half in the water, letting the water do it’s job as she focused on her back where she knew wings resided now.

Spell thread was around them as well, though it was a craftier spell upon it than the one on her mind. It made them invisible to her and anyone looking and bound them to her back, but it allowed them to be used in aiding things like jumping.

Well, no wonder she was always able to jump rather high. She removed the spell just like she did the other, but wove another one to keep them invisible to anyone but her or her siblings.

She then wondered how Hollow would react if he found out one of their siblings survived and escaped, she thought he’d be happy even if he couldn’t show it until she was alone with him.

...He was due to visit with the king in two days, wasn’t he? Despite the far from pleasant revelation that the king had manipulated her memories, she found herself excited at the fact the fellow vessel was coming here soon.

Now, to convince her mother to adopt her sibling, and hopefully give them a name and place to belong.

* * *

Queen Herrah was certainly not expecting to have her daughter approach her out of the blue with a vessel in her arms, pleading for her to take the poor thing in.

She had already been in a state when one of the three weavers she had guarding the little princess had approached her in a frantic state, saying she had disappeared, so Herrah had been turning most of deepnest upside down trying to find the runaway princess.

So for Hornet to show up in a flash of red with a vessel clutched tightly to her chest, it was far from how she expected her day to go.

“Mom please, any vessel doesn’t have anywhere to go, and he’s my sibling!” Hornet pleaded with her as Herrah sighed. “Father doesn’t even have to know, he hardly visits anyway!”

“Half sibling, but I see your point.” Herrah swore she saw something flash across her daughter’s stoney face at that, a flash of fury, but it was gone so quickly she brushed it off. “I suppose this one could become the prince or another princess of deepnest if you’re so insistent on a new sibling.”

Her tone was light, playful even as Hornet sighed with relief. Herrah knew she probably got lonely with only the three weavers for company, so she hoped a new sibling would help quell that.

“Thank you.” Hornet bowed to her mother, a strange action Herrah noticed as she didn’t often do that, before rushing off to her room, shouting over her shoulder. “If they pick a gender and pick a name when they wake up I will let you know!”

“Hornet-oh good grief.” Herrah sighed, placing a claw to her face. Just what did her daughter find this time? And that strange bow out of the blue…

* * *

Hornet let out a quiet cheer once she closed the door to her room, sibling still clutched in her arms.

She didn't think it'd be that easy to convince her mother to adopt her wayward sibling, but it probably helped Hornet didn't have many friends, and Midwife was more of a caretaker than a friend really. 

So Hornet could use a sibling to play with she assumed was Herrah’s line of thought, and she thanked her lucky thread that she was able to hide her flash of anger for Herrah’s calling her sibling only a half-sibling, as she knew Herrah presumed that Hornet was unaware of her true origins. 

But she had unlocked her memories of her true birthplace, so she was well aware of where she really was born.

She walked over and gingerly placed her sibling on her bed. They hadn't changed too much from her memory despite the years since, probably due to time passing slower in the abyss, but they were a bit bigger than before, almost to her shoulder if they were standing up. 

Their horns were longer, slightly thicker, and it seemed like their head was starting to mold and shift in a way that would resemble how Hollow looks after his horns grew out fully, where their head was becoming fused with the horns was the best way Hornet could describe it.

She dabbed a cloth in water and began to clean the dirt off their horns and top of their head, the poor thing had clearly done their best to keep their mask clean, but their horns were too long for their short arms to reach at the moment. But Hornet was more than willing to help her sibling out, after what they did for her it was the least she could do.

“** _Hey, wake up sibling._ ** ” She lightly and softly began to speak in void speak, her voice had a strange lit to the whispery and garbled words from disuse of the birthlanguage, but clearing her throat a few times diminished it. “ ** _Sibling, wake up!_ **”

Her sibling jolted into a sitting position, eyes wide beneath the mask as they heaved for breath and turned towards her.

“** _S-sibling?_ ** ” They stammered, clearly surprised to see her before jolting forward, hugging her tightly. “ ** _S-So that pull was to you..!_ **”

Hornet couldn’t find any words, throat choking as tears sprung to her eyes, hugging them back fiercely, as if they’d disappear from sight if she let go. Prior to her memories being locked away, she was so worried about them, concerned that they had fallen back down the abyss or worse, so to see them, even scuffed up as they were, was incredibly relieving.

“It’s sister now.” Hornet said softly, not letting go. “This whole situation is a mess, but I’m very thankful you got out of the abyss, last I heard it was sealed.”

“** _Sealed? No, only the entrance father was at._ ** ” Her sibling pulled away enough to cross their arms and tap the bottom of their mask. “ ** _Found tunnel, looked to be hand made? Me and other siblings escaped through it._ **”

With each word less and less made sense to Hornet, but she couldn’t find it in her to care as she smiled as best as she could. “Well, at least you are okay.” She then tilted her head. “You have quite the knack for showing up like a ghost.”

They perked up at that, raising their arms with a cheerful declaration. “** _Name is Ghost! Funny pillbug yelped that when I rushed out of tunnel from abyss, ‘You just appeared like a ghost!’ he said, name was Quirrel I think? I like him._ **”

Hornet blinked rapidly to process everything that her sibling said extremely quickly. Okay, they encountered Quirrel, no big deal, he seemed like he wouldn’t mention any escapee vessel to the king, he had his plate full as it was from her understanding. “Okay…”

“** _And!_ ** ” Ghost held up a hand, looking quite happy with themselves. “ ** _After learning about ‘gender’ and brothers and sisters from young mantises I encountered who helped me find tram, I’ve decided to be a ‘brother’!_ **” 

Hornet giggled at their-no, his overwhelming enthusiasm and glee at picking his gender as it was, Hornet was well aware that vessels like herself and him didn’t have physical genders by design, but they did have a choice if they wanted to identify with a gender or not.

“That’s wonderful Ghost.” She hugged him close, just happiness overwhelming her at the great fortune that Ghost had found his way out of the abyss and found his way to her.

She couldn’t wait until Hollow came to visit when the King came to pick up Petal, Hollow’s partner who was raised with him and was a very interesting bug with a strange face, she knew Hollow would be extremely excited that one of his siblings was alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I've gone with the Hornet-is-Void thingy for this au, I'm already changing a lot as it is and it's an AU, why not try writing that as well? XD
> 
> This little plot thread is definitely going to be fun to play with, considering this is one of the multiparter threads, but I won't say much more cuz spoilers! :3 I do feel bad for Hornet though, considering she is very unaware of the switch with Grimm and Hollow and, she's going to find that out very soon. 
> 
> I do plan to explore what happened with Ghost prior to this, as I'm not quite happy with myself with how he explained he picked his gender, but I do know it was likely due to seeing how the mantises, which I am going to readily say were the four mantis lords, acted around each other, mainly how the Traitor Lord acted towards his sisters and Ghost wanting to emulate/do the same with Hornet.
> 
> And yes, I have other plot threads with other vessels, one who is a OC and is tied to Lost Kin, stay tuned for that :3 We'll pick up on those later though! The next part is probably going to be at the White Palace, dealing with the OC who was mentioned at the end here, one being of light and void named Petal's thoughts on the switch considering she was raised alongside Hollow up until the point of the switch.
> 
> [You can read up on Petal in advance if you want here](https://www.deviantart.com/shadowrosa6/art/Hollow-Knight-OC-Petal-reference-815177434) (fair warning it's her main reference for my main stories, I don't have anything for her in this AU there yet cuz a good amount changes here), while I fight the slump I'm in to write more of this! Also I am working on a reference for Angelia like Petal's, just taking a bit is all XD


	4. Impure (part one of ???)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the White Palace, those Hollow was forced to leave are adjusting to such a stark difference without the vessel, namely one strange bug who knew him more than most did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I recommend reading up on Petal to understand what she is here](https://www.deviantart.com/shadowrosa6/art/Hollow-Knight-OC-Petal-reference-815177434), but otherwise read on!

Petal shifted, her two thin nails at the ready as she stared down Grimm, the vessel’s black gaze upon her as his grip tightened ever so slightly on his staff.

She shifted her weight, stance widening in preparation to dash at him even as her mind drifted. 

The being of Light and Void really, honestly wasn’t very sure what to even think of Grimm, even now. He just, showed up one day and replaced Hollow, who she had been raised alongside to seal away the Radiance together. From her understanding of her role she was going to be a seal within the egg, so if the Radiance managed to leak enough influence out whoever she controlled couldn’t break the seals, as one was within the egg.

Petal, in all honesty, found the concept and plan incredibly assine in her opinion, as Hollow, not once as they were raised alongside each other after the King found her and took her in for his own plans, was “hollow”. He had a personality and mind, she and him had used her connection to the void to make a connection of the mind so they could talk without the King finding out so she was well aware he was not as hollow as the King wanted him to be.

_ She giggles as his fingers carefully play with her hair, other hand trailing down her arm to grasp her own, they were in the hot springs getting cleaned so they were alone and free to act as hey wished- _

He was kind, he was selfless, he was her best friend and they had promised to each other that they would find a way out of this plan the King had in store for them no matter what.

And then he vanished.

_ “This is Grimm, he is to be the vessel to seal the Radiance away.” The Pale King’s voice rang in her ears, wing-ears flattening against the sides of her head as she gaped at the bug, cloak pale and staff held in his hands, across from her. _

_ “What happened to H-Pure?” She knew that Hollow’s name of Hollow was one he told her she could call him, as Pure sounded strange to him and he wanted his name to be Hollow, but she knew to bite her tongue and call him Pure when needed. _

_ The king sighed as he closed his eyes. “Lost, he vanished and I am very certain he’s somewhere I cannot retrieve him from.” _

_ Grimm bowed, silent as stone as Petal felt something within her break while the king spoke. “We shall need to start from scratch again, you will train Grimm what Hollow had learned prior to this and he will seal the Radiance away with you.” _

Grimm shifted while her mind drifted, opening his cloak towards her and sending void spheres at her. She snapped out of her thoughts and darted towards him, weaving around the spheres and even through a few.

She spotted his eyes widen a fraction before he skittered back, delight rang out in her chest as she attempted to strike him, but he vanished in a teleport of void.

She spun around, swinging her nails as they clashed against his swiping claws before he surged up, bursting into void spheres that rained down in a shower.

She quick-stepped to the left, safe in the gap between two spheres. For being a more powerful “vessel”, his attacks were rather easy to learn, or maybe she was just used to how Hollow fought which was more sporadic and wild to learn even for his status.

She heard him reappear at the opposite side of the arena and turned, giving him a challenging grin which made him still for the slightest moment, a flicker of amusement dancing in his blank eyes, before he steeled his expression as her own expression quirked with amusement.

She admittedly took great delight in getting the stoic bug to show any sort of emotion, as he really wasn’t hollow either, she was well aware of that fact. If he was, he’d act like the Kingsmoulds, who really  _ were  _ hollow in her opinion, but he wasn’t. Him catching her from tripping numerous times(granted it was by using his staff to basically hit her in the gut as it swung to stop her fall) and helping her with things showed that.

And honestly, the king should use one of them, they’re hollow enough to house the old light, this whole song and dance with him trying to make a vessel was incredibly tiring really and this was only the second time it played out.

Petal dispelled her nails and relaxed her posture, enjoying the confusion Grimm had before Dryya called out. “Enough! You two have been sparring for four hours now, you two hurry off to the Hot springs to get cleaned up, I can smell you two from here.” The knight plugged her nose with her claw for emphasis, fighting a chuckle.

“Not as bad as Ogrim I presume!” Petal laughed back, not meaning any offense to the knight in question and was merely a good-natured jest, pointing a thumb towards Dryya as Petal redirected her focus to Grimm. “Knew she was going to tell us to stop, so I did a bit before she said so.”

The vessel nodded and his staff disappeared in a flash of white flame, walking over to her and waiting for her to lead the way. Another thing, she was to be Grimm’s so-called handler, as in someone who made sure he got training and washed and such, which she didn’t get, cause the King and Queen could have done that just fine like with Hollow, but she didn’t really mind.

It wasn’t like she hated Grimm, she had the distinct feeling he didn’t have any more of a choice in what happened than Hollow did, she just wished she could have at least seen what happened to Hollow, or have a clear answer as to what happened to him. The king refused to even tell her any details, telling her she was sent to Deepnest for a week-during which Hollow vanished- for a reason and any details would hinder her training Grimm.

It irritated her to no end, but she didn’t take it out on Grimm. He didn’t do anything to deserve any ire from her.

“Come on Grimm, lets get going before Ogrim comes and mistakes us for fellow dung beetles.” She motioned him to follow and he did without question, though she saw the faintest shake of his shoulder, as if fighting back laughter at her quip.

Really, he was not hollow in the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tad shorter than my usual fair, but I think it gets the idea of what's going to be going on with Grimm across. At least in some aspects :3 This arc/plotline with Petal and Grimm I'm not sure how long it'll be, but it's definitely going to be interesting to say the least, especially when it's gonna be in Grimm's POV. And for once I really don't have much else to say XD Currently working on the next part of the "Chasing A Ghost" plotline, and planning the first thing of the next and hopefully final worldbuilding-ish plotline, WIP title for that one is "Escapees". ;3


End file.
